How I Got Your Mother
by moi-moi819
Summary: Gabi-verse. Paul's all grown up now with kids of his own. What will he tell them when the question of how he and Gabi got together is asked? Written for Counting Sinful Stars. Rating may go up with with future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: moi-moi819 does not own Pokémon, or any of their titles therein. This is a nonprofit fan fiction. No copyright infringement was intended._

Moi-Moi: I'm back again friends! I've been receiving requests for a sequel to Poke Adventures for a while now. It wasn't until recently that I got a request for a sequel that focused on Gabi and Paul. Yep, you know it. This is gonna be Gaul Central. ;) I really hope that I do Paul justice in this fic. By far, he's the most difficult character ever for me to capture. It probably wouldn't be so hard if his character was explored more on the show… Anyways! Let's dive right in and I hope you all enjoy. :D

~:~

Life had been kind to him. Not a day went by where Paul didn't thank Arceus for bestowing these many blessings on him. He had notoriety as the head of all the Frontier Brains in Sinnoh. He had some of the strongest and most loyal Pokémon ever trained. Plus, he had a family that he would do anything for.

Paul hadn't always been the most sociable nor pleasant person. Even now, he wasn't exactly a social Butterfree. But, he was learning. How could he not with the excellent teacher that he had for a wife? Even his kids, no matter how young, were always teaching him something new. And speaking of his kids…

"Dad?" Paul heard the voice of his eldest, Reggie, call out to him. Looking up from his newspaper, Paul raised a questioning eye brow at his son. Reggie was Paul's mirror image. He had inherited his father's purple hair color and pitch black eyes. Even though he looked like his father, he acted far more similarly to his mother. He was friendly and charismatic with a slight temper to complete the set. His choice of outfit reminded Paul of his younger days when he was still a travelling Trainer. He wore the same shade of navy on his jacket with loose, black jeans. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Reggie asked with a slightly unsure look.

"What is it?" Paul responded while placing down his newspaper. He waited for Reggie to continue, but the boy was hesitating. "Sit down and tell me what's on your mind."

Reggie took a seat on one of the available seats in the family study. He sunk down into the leather seat before looking up at his father. Paul raised a purple brow at his son, waiting for him to speak. "Dad, what was it like for you when _you _went on your journey?" Reggie finally asked.

Of course his son would be concerned. It was only natural when you were just about to start a journey of your own. Paul chose his words carefully before speaking, "I started my journey in Kanto after I got my Turtwig from Professor Rowan. I travelled through Johto and Hoenn next before coming back home to Sinnoh."

"I _know _that already, Dad. I mean, were you scared to go off on your own? Weren't you worried that you wouldn't be able to raise your Pokémon to be strong enough to win the Sinnoh League?" Reggie explained.

"No," Paul answered in a succinct tone.

Reggie sat back at once. Of course his dad wouldn't be afraid to be on his own. Dad had some of the strongest Pokémon he knew (besides Mom's, of course). "How did you train your Pokémon to become strong?" Reggie asked next.

Paul raised a questioning brow at his son. "What are you hoping to accomplish by going on your journey?" Paul rebutted.

Reggie was thrown for a loop. With a slight sputter (talking to Dad always did that to him), he tried to speak. "I want to be the strongest Trainer ever. I want to be even stronger than you and Mom," Reggie told him while squaring his shoulders. He knew that his father responded better when someone didn't back down or flinch away from him.

Paul frowned. That was the last thing he was expecting. After staring at Reggie for several, long seconds, Paul was hit with a sense of realization. Reggie was just like _him. _It wasn't twenty-odd years ago that he craved power and strength. Back then, he knew what he wanted and he was willing to do whatever he deemed necessary to get it. The last thing he wanted was his son to follow in his footsteps. Paul remembered spending a large part of his childhood alone. It wasn't until he had finally made some friends that things started to look much brighter for him.

Paul shut his eyes while he spoke, "Power isn't everything, Reggie. It is just as important to form bonds with your Pokémon and to strengthen those bonds over time."

Reggie was floored once again. It took a few seconds, but once realization set in, Reggie could identify where he'd heard those words before.

"That's what Mommy always says!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed with tons of energy. Reggie and Paul turned to see who had intruded on them. Paul nodded once at his youngest, the six-year old Charlotte. She grinned happily at him before bounding into the room and taking up her place on his lap. Charlotte had never been one to respect personal boundaries. Her long, dark brown hair swayed as she moved around on his lap, fiddling with everything on his desk that she could reach.

"It's why Mom is the Champion and Dad's not," the second eldest, Surgio, went on with a cheeky grin. He strode into the room before plopping down onto a vacant chair. Surgio had just turned nine and was more than happy to remind anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen that he only had _one _year remaining until he could get _his_ first Pokémon.

"Dad's already the head of all the Frontier Brains. He doesn't need to be the Champion," Reggie told his brother smartly, ever ready to defend his father.

Surgio waved his brother off before passing a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "What are you guys talking about anyways?" Surgio questioned.

"I was telling Dad what my goals were since I'm getting my first Pokémon tomorrow," Reggie explained.

"Really? I already know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna be a Master Electric type Trainer. And when I'm old enough, I'll take over the Sunnyshore Gym for Uncle Volkner," Surgio bragged.

"I want to be a Coordinator!" Charlotte exclaimed with a bright grin. No one in the room commented on Charlotte's choice. It seemed that Charlotte had a new goal every week. Just last week she wanted to a Pokémon Nurse. "I'll be as good as Grandma, Aunt Vicky, and Mommy."

"Dad, you met Mom while you were on your journey. Didn't you?" Reggie spoke up then.

"Yes. Why?" Paul replied with a nod.

"Were you and Mommy always friends?" Charlotte asked while turning a stapler over in her small hands. Paul took the stapler away before she could hurt herself and placed it out of her reach.

Once again, Paul chose his words carefully. "When she first met me, your mother…hated my guts. I won't lie. I wasn't too _thrilled_ about her either," Paul said. He received mixed reactions from his children. Charlotte looked ready to cry, fat tears were already welling up in her brown eyes. Reggie was simply shocked. His mouth hung open widely. Surgio was the only one to find this funny. He laughed loudly at the idea, his head tipping back merrily.

"But if Mom hated you and you didn't like her, how'd you two end up married?" Reggie asked, his mind working ten miles a minute to try to connect the dots and see the picture he was clearly missing.

Paul thought hard about what he was going to say next. There were times that even he wondered how he had convinced Gabi to be with him, let alone marry him. "It started… shortly after she turned fourteen…" Paul spoke, getting lost in his thoughts.

~:~

Moi-Moi: And here's the intro! Did anyone else applaud my creativity with Surgio's name. ;) He's got to follow the trend of having some sort of electricity pun in his name. (Surgio instead of Sergio.) Get it? ;D I can be so lame… See you next time!

Edited: 6/3/14


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: moi-moi819 does not own Pokémon, or any of their titles therein. This is a nonprofit fan fiction. No copyright infringement was intended._

Moi-Moi: Ahoy, mateys! Land ho! Chapter two be off the port bow! Lol I have no idea what I just said, but it meant, "Here's Chapter two for all you loveable Poke fans!" Let's get to it. ;)

~:~

"Electivire, Brick Break. Now!" Paul commanded loudly. He watched his Pokémon with critical eyes, looking for any imperfections in the move's execution. Electivire did his best to perform at 100% in his Trainer's eyes. His Brick Break was able to completely pulverize the boulder he was aiming at and left a cloud of dust in its wake. Turning to Paul, Electivire waited for criticism. Paul nodded once in acceptance without uttering any words.

"Paul, I made lunch. Are you hungry?" Reggie called out from the open, patio door. Reggie wiped his hands dry on a dish towel while observing his younger brother train hard with his Pokémon. Paul had just won the Sinnoh League after beating Stephan in battle. His match against Aaron was set for two weeks from now. Reggie had expected nothing less from Paul than complete determination.

"Sure," Paul acquiesced. His Pokémon took this as a symbol to take a break, all slumping to the ground at once. Paul turned to enter the home then. Reggie followed him inside, a small smile on his face.

"You're training hard. I'm sure you'll do great," Reggie commented while placing a plate down in front of Paul. Paul offered a small thanks before digging in. "…Gabi called. Your match with Aaron was rescheduled for that morning instead of at night," Reggie started, hoping to make conversation.

Once he saw that Paul had no intention of making small talk, Reggie turned on the television instead. He was relaxing while Rhonda reported on the latest sighting of famous celebrities. Reggie was about to change the channel when Rhoda said something that piqued his interest.

"…_The Sinnoh Champion was seen out on the town with the Runner-Up of the most recent Sinnoh League by several eye witnesses. I went straight to the source to see if there was any truth behind the rumors…" _Rhonda winked. Reggie sat up with an interested smirk. Paul hesitated slightly while taking a bite of his food. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the screen.

"_Gabi, I've heard the rumors on you and Stefen's latest date. My listeners must know, have you and Paul _really_ split up?" _the Rhoda in the middle of a recorded interview asked. A wide-eyed Gabi stood next to her with a sniggering Infernape at her side.

"_W-what are you talking about? I'm not dating Stephan or Paul…"_ Gabi said and tried to back away slowly.

Rhonda was too quick for her, however. With a sneaky arm, Rhonda was able to pull her back to face the camera while shoving a mic under her nose. "_How is Paul taking the rejection? Do you two still speak?"_

_"There _was_ no rejection. I'm not dating-"_

_"So Gaul lives on! You heard it here folks. Gaul is going strong. It's obvious that this Stefen is trying to come between Sinnoh's Young Couple. But, it's not going to work," _the recorded Rhonda said with a wink while Gabi glared at her back. If you paid close attention, you would notice Infernape firing off a small Flamethrower above her and off-screen. A few seconds passed before the sound of metal bending with a snap could be heard and Rhonda was crushed under a microphone with a suspiciously heated end. "_I've warned you about that micropone already! Make that mistake again, and I'll have your fired like the last guy!"_

The recording quickly cut off. "And that's all for Sinnoh Now! See you next time!" Rhonda winked.

"I don't understand why you bother listening to her," Paul scoffed and took a violent stab at his rice.

"You're right. I could always call Gabi. She'd just tell me herself," Reggie smiled. He'd never admit it to Paul, but Reggie always enjoyed to push Paul's buttons when it came to Gabi. Paul would never admit to feeling jealous or anything that implied that he had feelings for Gabi, but Reggie could see it as plain as day on his face.

"She's not with him," Paul offered in a final tone.

"Did she tell you that?" Reggie asked with pure curiosity in his voice.

Paul nearly snapped his chopsticks in two. He didn't know why Reggie insisted on asking him ridiculous questions. Gabi denied it on national television. _Obviously_, she wasn't interested in that Primeape-sized, poor excuse for a Trainer.

"Gabi's a very sought after girl. She's powerful, kind, smart, funny…" Reggie trailed off and continued with his channel surfing.

"I'm going to get some air," Paul huffed and left his lunch behind. Reggie watched Paul leave the house from the corner of his eyes. When Paul slammed the front door shut, Reggie nearly smirked.

Hearing the loud noise, all the Pokémon Paul ad left outside slowly made their way inside. Electivire was at the front of the group, his eyes searching for his Trainer. "Paul went out to get some air," Reggie informed them all.

"He's not too happy right now. Rhonda was showing footage of Gabi and Stefan on television," Reggie went on to explain. He received knowing looks from all the Pokémon. No one understood their Trainer's plight more than them. They could sense the favorable feelings Paul felt towards Gabi.

"I don't think Paul will ever be truly happy until he comes to terms with his feelings," Reggie told the Pokémon with a sigh. Slowly, Reggie stood to face them all. "We just may have to help him with that," Reggie finished with a wink. The Pokémon Breeder received a loud chorus of cheers from the Pokémon.

~:~

Moi-Moi: I only drink orange juice with pulp. Go ahead and judge me accordingly. It won't change anything. Don't forget to review though! ;)

Edited: 6/14/14


	3. IMPORTANT AN

Moi-Moi: Hey guys. I've never done this before, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Right? First off, I would like to apologize for not having a chapter ready for you guys. I've tried to explain it to myself, but I still can't come up with an excuse. Probably because here isn't one. :-/

Second, I need to let you guys know that I'm putting this story on hiatus until further notice. I have the free time to write. I just seriously lack the motivation. Any writer knows how much that sucks. To write, you need the motivation and the inspiration to do your best work. You can't have one without the other.

So, until further notice, I'll be tackling my stories one at a time until I've completed them all. I'm just realizing that four stories at one time is a _bit _too much. ^.^' But have no fear, I will finish the four that I'm currently working on one at a time in this order:

1. The Darkness Within

2. Poke Series

3. How I Got Your Mother

4. The Master of Fire

I'll do my best to get them written and updated regularly. This, I solemnly swear. (I've always wanted to say that ;) Until then, see ya! :D


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